Song · Live covers
Rhinestone Cowboy
Glen Campbell's signature song, played six times by Radiohead in 1992 and 1993, four of them to end the night.
1974–75
larry weiss, then glen campbell
Larry Weiss wrote and recorded it in 1974 for his album Black and Blue Suite, where it did almost nothing. Campbell heard it on the radio late that year, learned it while touring Australia, and was pitched it by Capitol as a great new song almost as soon as he got home. His version came out on 26 May 1975 and was a hit with country and pop audiences at once.
Writers have always pointed out how closely he identified with it. As AllMusic put it, the song belongs to a veteran “who's aware that he's more than paid his dues during his career… but is still surviving, and someday, he'll shine just like a rhinestone cowboy”.
1992–93
the joke that stuck
Radiohead played it six times, from Oxford on 22 August 1992 to Paris on 20 June 1993, five of those in 1993. It opened the night once and closed it four times, which for a joke cover is a serious workload.
the video
Their Glenn Campbell cover.· Bas Kollenwatch on youtube →
Live history
| Times played | 6 shows |
|---|---|
| Live debut | Saturday 22 August 1992 · Oxford |
| Last played | Sunday 20 June 1993 · Paris |
| Closed the night | 4 times |
Nights played include broadcasts; opened and closed count gigs only. A cancelled night has no setlist. All setlist stats →
sources4
- Stephen Thomas Erlewine, “Rhinestone Cowboy”, AllMusic.
- “Classic tracks: ‘Rhinestone Cowboy’”, Mix, 3 September 2015.
- “Glen Campbell: 20 essential songs”, Rolling Stone, 21 April 2017.
- Performance dates from this site's own setlist archive, via setlist.fm.